Contextualization Workshops

Join Us for this Workshop Series for Educators
— All Events at Laney College, Building A, Room A203 —
Professional development credit will be awarded to participants.
Lunch will be provided.
To RSVP and for more information: Lilia Celhay, LCelhay@peralta.edu, (510) 464-3215
Sonja Franeta – “Contextualization Pedagogy at Laney”
■ Friday, September 17, 12:00-1:30 p.m.
Contextual Teaching and Learning at Laney College (CTL) motivates and helps students connect what they are learning to real life, careers or a specific discipline. At Laney, we have several programs that incorporate math, English or ESL support classes to increase student learning. A few of the Laney Career Technical Education programs that have benefited from CTL include Carpinteria Fina (Wood Technology for Spanish speakers), Environmental Control Technology, Machine Technology and Biotechnology. We will discuss CTL and the prospects for extending this approach at Laney.
Kathleen Pappert – “Contextualized Reading: Helping Students to Read in the Disciplines”
■ Friday, September 24, 12:00-1:30 p.m.
While reading is the way in which most learning takes place in classrooms, many community college students are “inexperienced” readers—that is, they lack the skills needed to comprehend texts written at the college level. They often read for isolated facts and are unable to connect ideas presented in a text. Research in the field of reading suggests that collaborative, student-centered reading activities can help students become better readers, but instructors in the disciplines often feel they do not have the time or the expertise to use these activities in the classroom. This workshop will suggest several ways in which instructors can help students become better readers without taking a lot of class time to do so. Faculty are encouraged to bring books for a hands-on demonstration. Meryl Siegal – “The Great Teachers Conference and Contextualized Learning”
■ Friday, October 22, 12:00-1:15 p.m.
Come to this workshop and walk away with the secrets of Great Teachers from the Great Teachers Conference! Learn how a group of chemistry, biology, geology, English, vocational and nursing instructors among others came together to contextualize learning and make learning relevant for community college students.